Saturday, 10 May 2014

For years arguments have raged on whether adding scents or substances to fishing flies can give anglers an advantage. Everything from WD40 to fish oils and even female pheromones have been touted as proven fish killers but nobody could ever really prove if they made a difference to catch rate or if they just worked by chance on some occasions. And then of course there are the legal and moral implications of tainting your flies, especially on fly only venues!

The Foam Arsed Blob - FAB for short!

The guys at up and coming fishing program, Fishing Britain, wanted to conduct their own tests to see if the could shed any light on this grey area of flyfishing. Top angler Hywel Morgan and his film crew devised a semi-scientific test to see if two identically presented flies could be made more appealing by applying a well known bait additive from the Carp and coarse scene and filming them underwater in a well stocked Trout fishery.

Stinky Stuff Original - will it work for Trout!

They used 2 Foam Arsed Blobs, a hugely successful stillwater fly pattern in its own right, and sprayed on with Stinky Stuff, a potent bait additive raved about by Carp anglers for its fish attracting properties. A test rig was devised that allow both flies to be presented to the fish in an identical fashion and the results were filmed. The fish behavior that they captured was amazing and intriguing - check out the video below to see for yourself!